Title: The Story of Spanish Painting
Author: Caffin, Charles H.
Language: English
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                  THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.


[Illustration:

  “FOLWELL’S WASHINGTON.”

  NEGATIVE FROM ORIGINAL. BY JULIUS F. SACHSE.


]



                                AMERICAN
                        JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY.


                  Published by THOS. H. McCOLLIN & CO.
 ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
        VOL. XI.           PHILADELPHIA, JULY,            NO. 7
                                  1890.
 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 THOS. H. McCOLLIN, Managing Editor.   J. F. SACHSE, Associate Editor.
 ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════



                            THE SILHOUETTE.


Our illustration, “Folwell’s Washington,” is a profile of the one person
characterized in our nation’s history as the “First in war, the first in
peace, and the first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Our object in
presenting this frontispiece to our readers for the current month is a
two-fold one;--first, in view of the Eleventh Annual Convention of the
Photographic Association of America, which is to be held in Washington,
August 12–15. The subject is a particularly appropriate one.

The original portrait was painted by Folwell, in 1795, while General
Washington was in the presidential chair, for Col. William Washington, a
kinsman of the General, and who in the year 1800, but a short time after
the General’s death, presented the portrait to James Henry Stevens.

The following endorsement is written on the back of the picture: “Done
1795,--Presented to--James Henry Stevens, Esqr.,--by his friend
Col.--Wm. Washington, Sept.-–9th, 1800–-Said to be a--Correct likeness
from life of--His Excellency Gen’l--George Washington-–1st President
of--the United--States of America.”

The original is now in the possession of the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, and is classed among what are known as “rare Washington
portraits.” In Mr. Wm. S. Baker’s list we find on page 109 the following
notice regarding the portrait and the painter. “Samuel Folwell, 1795,
miniature painter, of whom little is known, was practicing his art in
Philadelphia, the latter part of last, and the beginning of the present
century. The profile of Washington in possession of the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, inscribed ‘S. Folwell, Pinxt, 1795,’ is said to
have been taken upon a public occasion, the President being unaware of
the fact. It is drawn on paper and solidly painted in India ink, with
certain lights touched in, and as declared at the time is ‘certainly a
most spirited and correct likeness.’ There is no engraving of this
profile.”

In addition to this portrait by Folwell, there are in existence two
regular silhouettes of Washington. One was taken by Samuel Powell, an
ex-mayor of Philadelphia, by tracing on the wall a shadow thrown by an
Argand lamp, which had just then been invented. This picture is now in
the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society. The other, a
psaligraph, or silhouette cut with the scissors, by a Miss De Hart, of
Elizabethtown, N. J., in 1783.

It will be noticed that the portrait belongs to the more advanced type
of its class; viz.: where an attempt is made to introduce detail by the
use of the brush.

Our other reason for reproducing this portrait is owing to the fact that
the solid profile has of late again attracted considerable attention in
photographic circles of Europe, and strange to say much difficulty seems
to have been experienced in obtaining desirable results. As simple as
the production of a solid profile seems to be (and is to us in
America)--if we may credit our European exchanges--just so difficult has
the process proved to some of the camera artists beyond the sea, as will
be seen from the accounts here given.

On account of the extreme plainness and simplicity of the old
silhouettes, we are too apt to pass them by as productions of but little
or no artistic merit or value, overlooking the fact that the plain
outline contour, in centuries past, was the germ from which emanated the
arts of bas-relief and portraiture, the latter passing through all the
various stages from the plain outline of the finished miniature, and
these in their turn to be supplanted by photography of the present day.

There are two traditions which have come down to us from the dim ages
past relating to this subject. One informs us that it occurred to an old
Greek to follow the contour of a friend’s shadow with a piece of coal as
it fell upon the white marble wall of the temple, thus permanently
securing the outline of his friend’s features; from this incident is
said to date the Greek School of Painting. Arkides, of Corinth, and
Telephanes, of Sikyon, improved the process by filling out the space
between the lines with a piece of coal or ruddle (an argillaceous iron
ore), from thence the transition to pigments was an easy and natural
one.

The other tradition, a still more pleasant one, would have us believe
that about twenty-five hundred years ago there lived in same city of
Sikyon, in Greece, a modeller in clay by the name of Dibutades. He had a
daughter Kora; he also had a young apprentice. As usual in these old
tales, both were young and fair, and in the course of events vows of
betrothal were exchanged. Shortly afterwards, as the pair sat together,
Kora suddenly seized a piece of coal from the brazier, and asking her
betrothed to remain still, she traced upon the wall the outlines of the
face which was so dear to her. It was an inspiration on the part of the
Greek maiden, and so correct was the likeness that when old Dibutades
saw it he recognized it at once, and thinking to please his daughter, he
filled in the portrait with clay; the result was a bas-relief, the first
that was ever made.

As crude as the silhouette appears, it certainly was the best process,
prior to the advent of photography, to reproduce the features of
persons; this applies, however, more to such as had a marked or
prominent profile, the result almost always being a recognizable
portrait, while in subjects with soft harmonic lines, especially female
faces, the identification of the original by means of the silhouette, or
profile, was more or less difficult. Yet there was a time, we will say
in the century preceding the perfecture of Daguerre’s invention, when
the silhouette was popular and common as the carte or cabinet photo of
the present day.

It was about the middle of last century when the rage for profiles broke
out in France. It is said the style was introduced by the Pompadour,
then at the zenith of her power. Be that as it may, it struck the
popular fancy, as it was a branch of portraiture which came within the
reach of all classes. Paris was soon flooded with profile artists, and
the black profiles became known as “à la Pompadour.” With the decline of
her power, and the appointment of one Etienne de Silhouette as Minister
of Finance, who on account of a system of retrenchment inaugurated by
him had become an object of derision with the court favorites and the
populace, a reaction set in; and so great a butt had the Minister become
with the populace, that everything that savored of retrenchment, or was
cheap, poor, or shopworn, was “à la Silhouette.” Our profiles, on
account of their inexpensiveness, came under the same category, and
strange to say thus immortalized, for all time to come, the name of the
honest Minister of Finance.

Towards the end of the last century the art of profile painting reached
its highest development, of which our example is a good specimen. In our
own country, the demand for these pictures was so great that a special
machine was invented for the purpose of producing correct outlines in
miniature. This apparatus was one of the features of Peale’s Museum,
then in Independence Hall. The process was first to outline the shadow,
then the machine was brought into play; this consisted of a tracer,
which moved on a universal joint on the standard, the respective ends
being adjustable as to length, so as to suit the required relative
proportion between the shadow and the miniature copy. In using, one end
of the tracer was caused to follow the line of the profile, while the
other marked upon the paper which was presented in a frame. The paper
was then removed, and the portrait cut out by the scissors. The
silhouette portrait also came into vogue for book illustrations, and
specimens from copperplates are frequently found in old volumes.

Towards the close of the last century the silhouette for a time was
superseded by pastel portraits. However, it was not long before the art
was again in favor, and practiced by numerous artists. The brush, which
had heretofore been almost exclusively used, was now supplemented by the
knife or scissors, resulting in the art of “Psaligraphy,” in which the
portrait was either cut out of glossy black paper and then pasted on a
white card, or the reverse, where the outline was cut with a knife from
a sheet of white paper and then backed with a piece of silk, thus
showing a black profile on a white ground. Specimens of the latter
process are very rare, as it required an artist of no mean order for
their execution.

Owing to the popularity of the silhouette it soon became elevated to the
rank of meritorious art. Noteworthy among the exponents of this school
we will mention the late Paul Konewka, Ströhl, and others, who produced
effects of a surprising degree of naturalness in solid black. Half a
century ago silhouettes of prominent persons, actors, danseuses,
soldiers, orators, etc., were as common an article of commerce as the
photograph of a professional beauty is at the present day.

The advent of photography eventually proved the death blow to the
silhouette, as a picture with all the detail and expression was far
preferable to the simple profile. Yet at first, in many cases, on
account of poor posing or defective lighting, the photograph showed less
similarity to the sitter than the well-executed silhouette. At the
present day, with the great advances in the photographic art, all
necessity for the silhouette has ceased to exist, nor is there any
special reason why that style of portraiture should be made by use of
the camera, except as a pastime. Yet, strange to say, this subject has
excited so much attention in Europe that it was made the special order
of business at the April meeting of the Photographische Gesellschaft, in
Vienna, where Herr Eisele, a prominent member, stated that he had
experimented for the last two years in producing photographic
silhouettes. Professor Luckhart and the artist Herr Schuer had also
devoted much time to the subject without, however, succeeding as well as
the first speaker.

The details of Herr Eisele’s experiments certainly make interesting
reading for us on this side of the water. He states that at first he
covered a frame with tracing paper, then placed his principal between
the sun and the screen, thus throwing a shadow on the paper. The
camera was set up on the other side, so as to photograph this shadow,
the lens, of course, pointed direct to the sun. He then made the
attempt to shade the lens with an umbrella. He neglects to state how
often he got the outline of the parapluie on his plate. Then he tried
Blitz-pulver--sitter, camera, and screen in same position. Result as
might have been foretold--a miserable failure.

Next the screen was placed in a doorway with a bright light back of the
screen. The subject was placed in front of the screen, the room
darkened, the camera being placed in front of the sitter and screen. A
Blitz-lamp exposure of five to six seconds was then made. Result--not a
single specimen that equals our old silhouette. So much for our Viennese
photographic cousins. In these great United States we simply tack a
piece of muslin in front of a window, place the subject directly in
front, shut off all other light in the room, focus, fire, and develop.
Result--a good sharp profile almost all the time.

                                                       JULIUS F. SACHSE.



                   SOME FURTHER DETAILS ABOUT PRINTS.


The drying of a photographic print after the final washings have been
completed is a simple enough matter, and yet it is possible for the most
exasperating failures to occur at this stage of the process; the
disappointment experienced being all the more keen because the work is
in a certain sense finished.

Those unacquainted with photographic neatnesses might easily imagine
that all that was necessary was to take the print out of the water, and
lay it aside in any convenient place to dry. They would soon find out,
however, that if the substance with which the wet print came into
contact were capable of communicating any impurity, the print would be
sure to show in the form of stains. For instance, suppose that the
prints were hung over wooden poles, or laid on wooden shelves while
still wet, there would hardly be a possibility of escape from stains.
This would be true in the case either of silver prints of any kind,
bromides, or blue prints.

Silver prints on plain paper and blue prints are more manageable in
drying than the other forms which are made on papers prepared with a
contractile substance like gelatine or albumen. Supposing that the
wooden poles or shelves before spoken of were covered with clean white
linen or blotting paper, all those forms of prints having a plain
surface might safely be dried there, but an albumen paper print would
not do so well; if laid out flat on the shelf it would contract
unequally, and be so crinkled and shrunken that there would be serious
difficulty in trimming. Drying over the pole would be preferable, but
the albumenized surface would be put on the stretch unequally, so that
in the case of a highly glazed surface there would be fissures and
cracks very detrimental to the finished result.

The best method of drying prints of all descriptions, and a very
convenient and inexpensive one also, is the following: Provide a number
of spring clothes-pins, a few yards of ordinary brass wire, and a couple
of good-sized screw-eyes. Having selected a suitable place in the
workroom where the prints will not be disturbed, screw in one of the
screw-eyes to the wood of the window or door jamb at the height of the
shoulder; pass one end of the brass wire into the eye and secure it,
then string the clothes-pins on to the wire, and secure its other end by
means of the other screw-eye at a convenient point across the room.
Having brought the prints from the washing tank in an ordinary deep pan,
select those of similar sizes, bring them together neatly, back to back,
while in the water, then take them out and suspend the pair from one or
more of the clothes-pins, according to the size of the prints. If they
are very large, it may require three of the clothes-pins to fully
support them, and avoid risk of the wet mass tearing by its own weight.
While on the other hand, small sizes, such as 5×4 inches, may be held by
a single pin. When the paper is very glossy, and the weather dry, the
larger sizes may require to be pinched together at the bottom corners by
an additional couple of clothes-pins, which will prevent the prints from
separating until thoroughly dry.

Prints dried in the manner described will be quite flat, and free from
stains of any kind. We need hardly add that the clothes-pins should be
new and clean, and kept for this purpose only. If the prints are hung up
to dry in the evening, they will be ready for trimming in the morning,
when the end of the wire may be released, and the whole turned aside out
of the way until the next occasion for use. If the wash-water is muddy,
as is often the case, the deep pan in which the prints are transferred
to the drying-room may be filled with clean filtered water, so that the
collected mud in the paper may be soaked out before drying.

The warm weather we are now passing through reminds us of a few matters
which have greatly eased our own labors in the printing-room, and simple
as they are we will mention them.

It sometimes happens that there is trouble in securing pure whites in
prints on albumen paper, an universal yellow stain covering everything.
The best remedy for this is the use of alum in the printing bath, as
originally suggested by the late Mr. Anthony, of New York. Care also
must be taken that the paper is quite dry before being fumed. Operators
are too apt to forget that as the thermometer rises, so does the amount
of watery vapor in the air increase, and that sheets of paper will often
dry more quickly on a bright day in winter than on many hot days in
summer. The way the paper feels to the hand is the best guide, and some
little attention is required to be able to tell accurately.

The question whether the strength of the silver bath should be reduced
or not during warm weather is open to some discussion. If the paper be
of first-class quality, and the bath contain alum, as before alluded to,
it would be possible to continue making good prints having pure whites
with the bath at full strength, by which we mean fifty to seventy grains
to the ounce. There is no question of the fact that the sensitiveness of
the prepared paper increases when floated on a strong bath, and that the
compound which is then formed between the albumen and the silver is more
prone to decomposition. It will occasionally happen, if the prints come
out yellow, metallic-looking, and covered with minute black specks, that
weakening the silver bath down to the strength of forty-five or even
forty grains will cure the trouble. A strength of forty grains, however,
we should consider a low one, and only to be resorted to for unusually
hot weather or for particular kinds of paper, such as very thin and
delicate Rives.

The paper should not be left in the fuming-box for too long a time in
hot weather. If things are properly arranged for the purpose, ten to
twelve minutes ought to suffice for thorough fuming. It is important, of
course, that good strong ammonia be employed, and care should be taken
that the glass stopper be well secured in the bottle. In a hot
printing-room the stoppers of ammonia bottles are frequently blown out
by the vapor and fall on the floor, leaving the contents of the bottle
to lose strength rapidly.

                                                      ELLERSLIE WALLACE.



                     THE CONVENTION AT WASHINGTON.


The time for the Eleventh Annual Convention of the Photographic
Association of America is approaching, and we hope the craft through the
length and breadth of the land are preparing for it. Mr. J. M. Appleton,
the president, sends the following circular, which should be carefully
studied by every photographer, and also a specimen of the blank form to
be filled up by intending exhibitors. Those who may not have received a
copy should apply to him.

We published a list of the prizes to be awarded in our March number, and
now print the following:


                    RULES FOR JUDGES AND EXHIBITORS:


               RULES GOVERNING JUDGES IN THE GRAND PRIZE.

1. The points to be considered are: First, historic; second,
originality; third, composition; fourth, lighting; fifth, technique.

2. Ten marks to be the highest for any one point, consequently, fifty
marks the most that can be given to any one picture.

3. The standard of this award must be thirty-five markings out of a
possible fifty.


                   RULES GOVERNING JUDGES IN CLASS A.

4. The principal points to be considered are: First, originality;
second, composition; third, lighting; fourth, technique.


            RULES GOVERNING JUDGES IN CLASSES B, C, D AND H.

5. The following points to be considered are: First, lighting; second,
posing; third, chemical effect; fourth, general effects or finish.

6. Ten marks to be the highest for any one point, consequently forty
marks the most that can be given to any one picture.

7. The above regulations also to govern Class A.

8. Applications for space must be made to George H. Hastings, No. 147
Tremont street, Boston, Massachusetts.

9. Entries to close on Tuesday, July 15, and no space to be allotted for
exhibits after that date. All exhibits must be shipped so as to reach
the exhibition on the Saturday preceding the opening of the same, and
all charges to be prepaid.

10. Each picture or set of pictures must be marked with a letter
signifying the class in which it is offered for competition.

11. The exhibition of photographs connected with the convention is to be
considered an art exhibition pure and simple. In order not to detract
from this standard, no sign of any description shall be allowed in the
hall devoted to the display of photographs, except the names and
addresses of the exhibitors.

12. No exhibit for the grand prize or classes A, B, C, D and H to occupy
space of more than eight lineal feet, and in class E, ten lineal feet.

13. All photographs exhibited must be from negatives made since the
tenth annual convention, held at Boston, Massachusetts, August, 1889.

14. All exhibitors must see that their displays are properly placed
before 10 o’clock A.M., on August 12, and no exhibits will be admitted
after that date.

15. All art exhibits must be sent to George H. Hastings, Art Department,
Photographers’ Association of America, Smithsonian Institute,
Washington, D. C., all charges prepaid.


    ELEVENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF
          AMERICA.--SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, AUGUST 12 TO 15.

                                        OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,       }
                                        IOWA CITY, Iowa, May 24, 1890. }

 _To the Photographers of America_:

The eleventh annual convention of the Photographers’ Association of
America will be held in the Smithsonian Institution at Washington,. D.
C, August 12 to 15, inclusive, and from present indications the
attendance will be larger than ever before. Why not take a few days’
vacation and attend this meeting? If you only knew the treat that awaits
you in Washington, every photographer in the land would attend, if they
had to close their business for a week to do so.

A visit to the places of interest in Washington, the most beautiful city
in the world, will alone be worth the time and money spent. The fine
collection of paintings in the Corcoran Art Gallery is of special
interest to photographers, as it contains some of the finest pictures in
this country or in Europe. A visit to the capitol and government
buildings, the Washington monument, the White House, the Smithsonian
Institution, and many other interesting points will add to the pleasure
of this occasion, and is alone well worth the time and expense of the
trip.

The Committee on Railroads have secured a rate of one and one-third fare
for the round trip on all trunk lines in every direction. In order to
obtain this rate, you must obtain a receipt from the ticket agents of
whom you purchase tickets on all roads, and have them signed by W. V.
Ranger, second vice-president, at the convention, this will entitle you
to a one-third fare returning.

The headquarters of the convention will be at the Ebbitt House, and the
following rates have been obtained at the different hotels: Ebbitt
House, two in a room, $2.50 per day; Ebbitt House, one in a room, $3 per
day; the Arlington, $3 per day; Millards, $3 per day; the National,
$2.50 per day; the Riggs, $3 per day; the Harris, $2 per day; and many
other hotels from $1.50 to $2.50 per day; also several on the European
plan, rooms from 50 cents to $1.50 per day.

If you will look at the benefits to be derived from attending this
meeting, we feel sure that you will take the time and meet with us.

The unveiling of the Daguerre memorial during the convention, to be
permanently placed in the Smithsonian Institution, will be one of the
special features. This memorial is the gift of the photographers of
America. The fund is raised by one or more dollar subscriptions from the
photographers (which it would be well for you to send in your
subscription at once to one of the different committees, and help the
matter along, and do honor to the man who first brought to light this
noble profession of ours).

You will miss it if you _fail to come_. There will be some of the finest
specimens of American photography ever exhibited, as well as European. I
have the promises of exhibits from all the leading photographers of the
world.

_Rules and regulations, list of awards, entries for competition, etc.,
will be mailed on application._

Is not this association worthy of your support? Any photographer of good
moral and professional standing is eligible. If not already a member,
lose no time in uniting yourself with an organization already a power in
the land. It has stood the test of time (eleven years), and has a
creditable standing throughout the length and breadth of the civilized
world.

To become a member, send five dollars if a proprietor, and two dollars
if an employé (which pays entrance fee and dues for first year), to the
treasurer, G. M. Carlisle, Providence, R. I. If already a member kindly
remit your dues ($2.00), and by so doing avoid waiting your turn at the
entrance when you arrive at the convention, as none can be admitted
whose annual dues remain unpaid.


                       EXTRACT FROM CONSTITUTION.

ARTICLE II., Section 4.--The annual dues become payable on January 1 of
each year, and any member failing to pay the same prior to the
adjournment of the annual convention shall forfeit his right to
membership, and can only be reinstated on payment of an initiation fee
($3.00) and ($2.00) dues, $5.00, as provided in case of admission of new
members.

Become a member and get the benefits of the art lectures, practical
talks, and a grand exhibition of photographic productions and stock
exhibit. Fraternally yours,

                                              D. R. COOVER, _Secretary_.

[We expect to publish, in our next number, an additional article on this
subject, from the pen of the president, J. M. Appleton, which will reach
our subscribers in ample time for the convention.]

                                                                      S.

                  *       *       *       *       *

The average newly-fledged photographer wishes to begin before breakfast.
The barn or the back-yard fence is good enough for him, and if nothing
else alive is in sight, it is easy enough to try it on the dog. Few
dogs, however, have a proper sense of the responsibility of being
photographed. After everything is carefully arranged, they get up and
want to go home. Sometimes they remain silent until the picture is
started, when they begin to stroll around and make eight or nine dogs on
the plate; or they sit still and only wag their ears, until the negative
shows something like a halo of ears. This would give a professional
photographer much worriment of mind, but the amateur is generally wise
enough to see that his failures are the funniest things he has.--_Photo.
Times._



                        ORTHOSCOPIC PHOTOGRAPHY.


It is well-known that there are a large number of coal-tar color
products, which have the property of causing an orthoscopic action on
the ordinary sensitive dry plate, making the plate more sensitive for a
certain color than the others; for instance, eosine is a superior
sensibilator for green-yellow and yellow-green; cyanin, again, is
especially sensitive for reds. Other products, such as rhodamin,
cyclamin, methyl, violet, and others, generate in each instance an
especial color sensitiveness.

While we have no deficiency in these mediums which answered for the
greens and yellows, we have but few that answer for the various shades
of red. Although Dr. Vogel has strongly recommended a mixture of
chinolin red and chinolin blue (cyanin), the latter has two great
drawbacks, viz., the salt is very dear, and does not keep. To overcome
this difficulty I have instituted numerous experiments to replace the
above with a more durable and cheaper medium. Among the various
substances which I have tried, the mixture of indophenol and malachite
green, has given me the most satisfactory results. Malachite green alone
produces a strong sensibility to red, but the addition of the indophenol
greatly enhances this sensibility.

In connection with the experiments with this solution, the interesting
fact was observed that the sensibility for blue was greatly reduced in
the brom-gelatine film, while green and yellow appeared in their true
color values.

My proceeding is as follows:

(_A._) Dissolve 0.1 g. indophenol (napthalin blue) in 500 ccm. alcohol.

(_B._) Dissolve 1 g. malachite green in 200 ccm. water.

The latter solution is heated to about 70° c.

In the meantime, prepare a solution of 10 g. doppelt chrom sauris kadi
in 100 ccm. water, at a temperature of 70 to 80°, then pour this to the
hot solution of malachite green.

This mixture is kept hot for half an hour and then filtered, the
precipitate which remains on the filter is now washed in several waters,
and finally again dissolved in a solution of

                        Alcohol         250 ccm.
                        Chinin sulphate   0.8 g.

The latter is first dissolved in a little alcohol by heating, then the
volume is added to until the amount is reached. The filtered fluid has a
beautiful greenish-blue color. This forms the stock solution.

To sensitize the plates, make the following bath, pour in graduate:

               Indophenal solution (as above)     4 ccm.
               Malachite green (stock solution)   4 ccm.
               Water (distilled)                600 ccm.

Pour 60 ccm. of this solution in a tray (13 by 18 cm.) cover the plates
and soak 2 minutes, keeping the tray in constant motion. During the
operation all red rays must be carefully excluded; then the plate is
drained and dried in absolute darkness.

Plates so treated are much quicker than when in their normal condition.
They give the reds in their true color value, even through an intensive
yellow color screen. Even this extreme color sensibility can be enhanced
with the use of a “supplementary-ray filter” (“Ergänzungs-Strahlen
filter”), which is made from a substance which absorbs all colors except
the reds and yellow. Gelatine, dyed by soaking in a erythrosin solution,
furnishes an excellent Ergänzungs-Strahlen filter, which is used in
connection with the usual yellow color screen

                                                          M. LEON VIDAL.



                          PHOTOGRAPHY IN ROME.


The _Bollettino_, a journal published every two months in Rome, and the
chief organ of those interested in photography in that city, gives the
result of the last election of members of its Photographic Society as
follows: Adler, Dottor Vittoria; Intriglio, Avv. Benedetto; Tenerani,
Cav. Carlo; and of the correspondent members--Calvaria, Cav. Avv.
Giuseppe, of Castellamare di Stabia; Daniele, Oreste, of Catania;
Garzia, Oronzo, of Maglie; Hermans, Charles, of Brussels; and Orsini,
Marchese Antonio, of Solmona.

The opening of the Second Annual Exhibition of Photography took place in
the Palazzo di Belle Arti on the 2d of May, when a large number of
members took part.

The display included landscapes and interiors, portraits, instantaneous
views, film negatives, photo-micrographs, enlargements, flash-light
pictures, architectural views, and representations of costumes taken in
Morocco and in Sweden.

An excellent article on “The Duration of the Pose” begins
thus:--“Formerly, when collodion occupied the whole field of
photography, the first difficulty in the art was the preparation of the
sensitive surface. Now that the preparation has undergone a radical
change, passing into a branch of industry, that first difficulty has
vanished, and there has succeeded to its place the duration of the pose,
the exact determination of which has over the resulting picture an
influence as great, and possibly greater than formerly, seeing that in
the very short poses of the present time even a little error has a value
of relatively greater importance.” The article goes on to say that the
duration depends (1) on the sensitive preparation, (2) on the actinic
power of the light, (3) on the object, (4) on the diaphragm, and (5) on
the distance. Thus, if it were required to represent by an algebraic
formula the conditions governing the pose _t″_, we should have--

                         t″ = k. P. L. O. d. D.

where k is the invariable constant.

The article, which is too long to translate, is written by A. Roncalli.
It is succeeded by a short notice of the effects of the Schippang
varnish upon collodion enlargements. This article, written by Ab. F.
Castracane, makes mention of some unhappy results of the use of this
varnish on some of his own pictures. After this comes a letter from Sac.
D. Ratti, on halation, or _aureole_, as the Italians call it. Then a
paper on the development of instantaneous negatives and on the toning of
aristotype paper, by Bne. T. Melazzo. Various notes and receipts, with a
bibliography and a short notice of the illustrated supplement, complete
this interesting number. The illustration is that of a moonlight effect,
the negative by A. Ducros, the phototype by Danesi, of Rome. “To obtain
this picture,” says the letter-press note, “it was sufficient to set the
machine against the setting”--pardon the indiscretion; I was about to
add sun--“and to remove the cap. But, before this is done, that certain
fifth sense has to be taken into account, without which,

                      ‘Non licet adire Corintum!’

and Signor Ducros, profound and advanced artist and photographer as he
is, possesses this fifth sense, and uses it in a masterly
manner.”--_Photographic_ (London) _News_.



                       AMATEUR EXPERIENCES.--IV.


If any one wants to become thoroughly acquainted with the weaknesses and
frailties of humanity, just let him become a camera carrier, in “all
that the word implies,”--and he will enter a school, wherein he will
learn more of the different phases of human nature in one lesson than he
has during the last ten years of his life. No other vocation, if we
except that of the live newspaper reporter, offers the same advantages
in this biological study. Varied indeed are the experiences and
vicissitudes of the amateur photographer, whether the camera bearer
carries the latest Universal, with aluminium mounting, or rejoices in a
Premium Pinhole outfit, he experiences the same annoyances and
disappointments. Ignorant and unreasonable people are sure to be met
with on an outing, and, worse than all, he has frequently to suffer for
the sins of some rude member of the guild who has been there before him.
Experiences like these are but too apt to discourage persons of a
nervous or sensitive temperament; the picture, however, is not all
shadows. There is often a bright side for the camera bearer, especially
if he be susceptible of the humorous. Photographically speaking, the
writer, in addition to such annoyances as double exposures,
unaccountable fog, forgetting to draw the slide, put plates in the
holder, or take the cap off, to say nothing of neglecting to insert the
stop, has met with many rebuffs and disappointments on his outings,
through meeting with ignorant or unreasonable people, in all such cases
his rule has been always to look upon the comical side of the situation,
and try to achieve his object, bringing into play his common sense, tact
and knowledge of human nature, generally with the result of obtaining
the coveted negative.

The trouble, however, does not always lay in the strangers we meet in
our travels; the fault too often is with the camera bearer. There is a
class of persons, largely represented among the guild of amateur
photographers, who presume entirely too much on their wealth or social
standing, and who at home pride themselves on their good breeding and
polite manners, claiming to be within the so-called exclusive social
circles or sets; yet they no sooner get away from the restraint of their
immediate surroundings, such as a photographic outing affords, than they
seem to forget that at least a little courtesy is due the strangers on
whose premises they trespass. The dweller in a picturesque tumble-down
shanty, or custodian of an old colonial or religious land mark, no
matter in how humble circumstances of life they may be, have rights
guaranteed them under the law, which even the exclusive amateur is bound
to respect. One specimen of this kind will often spoil the game for all
amateurs for some time to come. We will give a few instances which have
come under our notice.

Early last spring two prominent members of the Quaker City Camera Club
concluded to photograph an historic old church in one of the German
counties (so-called) in our state. The place was rather difficult of
access, being away from the usual lines of modern travel, so extensive
preparations were made. The day proved all that could be desired. A team
had been telegraphed for, and met the pair at the nearest railroad
station. When the spot was reached the outfits were quickly unpacked and
set up. No permission was asked, nor notice was taken of flower-beds
trampled over, or other damage done. Then the bell of the parsonage was
rung,--the clergyman answered the call in person. The spokesman, great
in his own importance, asked for the keys of the church, as they wished
to photograph it. The dominie answered, with an unmistakable
Pennsylvania Dutch accent, that the sexton lived about a half a mile
down the road. The reply was, that as he had a key it did not suit them
to run after the sexton. Well, one word brought on the other, and the
parley ended with the clergyman saying, “You will please excuse me; I
got no time to fool with such nonsense, and I can’t be bothered with
opening the church for every fool photographer who chooses to come out
here from town; please go about your business, if you have any.” The
interview closed with the threat by the parson to use a hoe-handle over
the next photographers who should come to bother him with their
intrusiveness. Our two amateurs packed up their outfits and beat an
ignominious retreat, going back to Philadelphia with temper ruffled and
object unaccomplished.

A few days after this episode one of the twain, wishing to have some
sport at our expense, suggested to the secretary of the Leopardville
Camera Club the advisability of a trip to the adjoining county, and
securing for him a set of negatives of the old landmark. We knew nothing
of what happened, and consequently, owing to our innocence and
unsophisticated nature, we unconsciously fell into the snare that our
kind friend laid for us on the first fine day. We made an early start.
We went merrily over hill and dale, not dreaming of trouble. When within
half a mile of the church, we stopped at a roadside inn to water our
horse and inquire our way. We remembered the hostler, who, while
reigning up, caught a glance at our outfit. To our surprise, he broke
out with, “Say, Mishter, vas you a fotegraf feller?” “Why?” we queried.
“Vell, if you vas, tont go to der kärch up dere; der breecher letzt woch
putty near broke zwei fotegraf feller’s het’s up.” Here was a
revelation. Our nickel had been well invested. We made closer
inquiries,--from the description, we at once recognized our friend from
the Quaker City who had suggested our trip, and was no doubt chuckling
in anticipation of a countryman’s discomfiture. After a few moments’
thought we continued on our way. We met the dominie, and when we got
back to our home we had eight negatives, exteriors and interiors, in our
satchel. In one of the latter the dominie appears in the quaint old
pulpit. With our ten dollar outfit, by the use of civility, tact, and
common sense, we had accomplished that in which our predecessors had so
signally failed, mainly by not exercising the common civility due
towards a stranger.

Another case which came under our notice but a few weeks ago: In an
adjoining county there still exist several quaint old buildings, erected
during the middle of last century by a religious community, and used by
them until long after the Revolution. Owing to the curious architecture
and proximity to a summer resort, the property is often overrun by
visitors and sightseers, who run over the grounds, enter the houses,
intrude on the privacy of the inmates, as if they had no rights of their
own whatever, and in fact act as if the whole premises were public
property. The custodian or trustee of the property is a plain country
Dutchman, and keeps an especially sharp lookout for amateur
photographers, as the religious sect to which he belongs frowns down
portraiture of any kind. A few weeks ago a party of nine or ten persons,
ladies and gentlemen, made a pilgrimage to the old settlement under the
leadership of a well-known pulpit orator in Pennsylvania. Among the
party were several amateur photographers. When the party arrived at the
grounds they entered, without as much as asking permission, and at once
made themselves at home within the premises regardless of the inmates.
While the amateurs were setting up their cameras, the preacher was
airing his knowledge of the religious doctrines of the community which
flourished there in days gone by. While making these derogatory
allusions, the party had been joined by a stranger,--it was the trustee,
and who lost no time in introducing himself to the preacher. The two men
were a study for an artist. The preacher, who prided himself on his fine
physique, oratorial powers, and dignity, was the ideal picture of the
petted fashionable preacher of the present day. The other, a man of
medium height, bare-footed, unkempt; a straw-hat of last season’s
growth, a shirt of unbleached muslin, a pair of overalls, which hung by
a single “gallus,” completed his wardrobe; his language was pure and
unalloyed Pennsylvania Dutch.

In appearance the two men as they faced each other were as diametrically
opposite as the poles. The trustee, without any ceremony, asked the
preacher what he was doing there; the latter, looking down at the
speaker with contempt and scorn, and nettled at the interruption, curtly
told him to attend to his own affairs. This was more than the trustee
could stand, and he at once ordered the party to pack up and get out.
This in turn was too much for the preacher; so, turning to the trustee,
said, “My good fellow, you seem not to know whom you are addressing; I
am the Rev. Dr. ----, of ---- Church, in Philadelphia, and I wish you to
understand that you are in the presence of ladies and gentlemen, and I
would advise you to take yourself off without ado, as your presence here
is unwarranted, uncalled for, and distasteful to the persons present as
well as myself personally; and further, your appearance is hardly such
as would be permitted within the circles in which the ladies present are
in the habit of moving.” During this speech the trustee stood with mouth
and eyes wide open. The others of the party nodded approval as their
spiritual leader was delivering himself. One of the photographers was
trying to train his camera on the countryman, who had for a few moments
stood speechless. But it was only the calm before the coming storm. With
a bound the trustee kicked over the tripod and camera; then, turning to
the preacher in an unmistakable attitude, told him in his rich German
English, that he was on private property, tramping down a growing grass
crop, and if he and his crowd didn’t pack themselves off at once he
would arrest and fine the party for trespassing. “But, my good fellow,”
ventured the now crestfallen preacher. “Don’t speak to me!” was the
retort. “You claim to be a gentleman; maybe you try to be at home. But
if you were one, you would know better than coming with a crowd on
another’s place, where you have no business, without even asking
permission.” “But, my good man, we are willing to pay you if--” broke in
the preacher. “We don’t want your money. All I want is for you to go and
not bother us. Or do you want me to show you the way?” All this was said
in the rich vernacular peculiar to the locality. There was no help; the
trustee was on his own ground. So the party retreated and filed singly
over the old stile into the road. It would be hard to say which of the
party felt the sadder as they wended their way towards their conveyance,
the crestfallen preacher or the Rittenhouse amateur with his shattered
outfit.

This was but another instance where a little courtesy and politeness
would have saved humiliation and photographic disappointment.

                                                   J. FOCUS SNAPSCHOTTE.

                  *       *       *       *       *

A RECORD IN DEVELOPMENT.--Many amateurs are so fidgety about their
dark-room and its appendages that we describe, both for the benefit of
the finic and also for “those who go down to the sea”--in trains, how an
extemporized traveling dark-room was successfully used by a member of
the newly founded Croydon Camera Club.

In case the railway superintendent should reprimand the guard who
connived at the measures adopted, we must perforce suppress the
gentleman’s name, the date, and the station where the train was joined.

About a fortnight ago Mr. X. ran down for the day to visit his friend
Y., who dwells somewhere on the south coast, within about one and a half
hour’s journey from Croydon. Mr. X. having exposed sixteen
quarter-plates, Y. enquired of him when they would be developed.
“To-night,” answered X., and added, “Perhaps before I get to Croydon.”
Y. expressed incredulity, on which X. guaranteed that he would have all
the plates developed before reaching his destination.

No previous preparation had been made, and the train started in forty
minutes from the time of above conversation. A sheet of ruby paper, some
drawing pins, some oiled paper, and a piece of Willesden waterproof
paper, together with Beach’s developer, in two solutions, were procured.
The guard was duly “tipped,” and a pail of water obtained from the
engine-driver. Mr. X. being safely locked in a third-class compartment,
the Willesden paper was made into a tray, with sides three inches deep,
on account of the swaying of the train. The ruby paper was pinned over
the carriage lamp, and the blinds carefully drawn. The night was,
fortunately, a dark one. Most of the plates were shutter views; these
were first developed, the developer being used for about three plates
and then thrown away. The time views were subsequently developed, with a
suitable modification in the proportions of developer. The plates were
well rinsed in the pail of water, and while wet wrapped in oiled paper,
and thus packed in the ordinary boxes in which they are sold; the object
of using oiled paper being that it does not stick to the film when the
latter is either dry or wet. The plates were all developed before Red
Hill was reached; the fixing being deferred until arriving home.

The resulting negatives were not noticeably inferior to those which the
same worker generally produces in his dark-room. We have before us a
print of a wreck with fisher-boats “salving,” which is distinctly above
the average skilled amateur work.

If so good a result is attained by adapting a railway carriage on the
spur of the moment, even better could be done by pre-arranging to make
use of the dreary time spent in traveling by night. The above _tour de
force_ is a strong argument in favor of those railway companies who run
journeys of from five hours upwards, such as the Scotch express,
providing a well-fitted but inexpensive dark-room. A luggage van might
be converted, with an open compartment for workers to sit in when their
“dark deeds” are done.

A pleasant vision is opened up of snap-shot views, taken from a railway
carriage, and developed during the journey. Of course, plates need not
be exposed while the train is “hurtling” along at seventy miles an hour;
but in a, say, ten hours’ journey there are many stoppages and
slackenings of speed which a member of the “wideawakes” could profitably
utilize.--_The Amateur Photographer._



                         MILITARY PHOTOGRAPHY.


Captain Curties, of the Royal Engineers, has written a series of
articles on the above subject, which were published in the _Broad
Arrow_. In the last of the series he gives a description of his
photographic outfit. His arrangements for exposing and developing the
plates in the field afford interesting reading. However, judging from
our own experiences on the scout, the picket line, or field, we should
say that the whole scheme, as portrayed by Captain Curties, is more or
less chimerical, and no matter how plausible the plan may seem or read
to the members of a theoretical camera club in their well-furnished
quarters, there are certain difficulties in the way which would make the
scheme impracticable, and even if these were overcome, the results would
be of but little if any use in actual service, a fact which will be
apparent to anyone who has seen active military service.

The captain in his articles says:

“The one object I have kept in view all through has been to simplify the
art as much as possible, and to make each photographic section complete
in itself, and able to take, develop, and print a picture without any
outside help in the shortest time possible. Having this end in view, my
equipment supplies in the first place two light knapsacks, to be carried
in a reconnaissance by two mounted officers or men. One contains a very
light fold-up camera, capable of taking pictures 10 in. by 12 in., round
which is wrapped the focussing cloth. It has not appeared to me
desirable to place before a general a view of a country smaller than
this. The extra weight would be more than compensated for by the
comprehensive picture obtained; moreover, in a small plate, I take it,
distance would not be fairly and distinctly portrayed. The other
knapsack carries three dark slides, very light but strong, each
containing two plates. This knapsack also contains the lens,
instantaneous shutter, etc. Both knapsacks are made to fit close to the
back, and, in addition to the straps passing over the shoulders, are
secured to the sword-belt, thus preventing any injurious motion when
riding. By the simple act of unbuckling one strap, each can be at once
unslung ready to be unpacked. The tripod, which is made as light as can
be consistently with strength and stability, is carried folded up in a
bucket attached to the saddle, and fixes immediately on to the camera.
We next proceed to the all-important subject of “developing” in the
field. For this purpose I use a tent composed of a large, folding,
umbrella-shaped top, made of a material which admits a deep ruby light.
When this is opened and fixed in the ground, it stands just clear of a
tall man’s head. Over it is dropped a sort of sack, open at bottom ends,
the top end being much smaller than the bottom end, and capable of being
drawn together by means of two cords. This sack is lightproof and
waterproof. The lower end is held down by means of a light iron hoop or
ring, which also folds up to facilitate packing. The hoop is attached to
the bottom of the sack in such a way that a border of the material
extends beyond it, and rests upon the ground. This, in the ordinary way,
is sufficient to keep out light, but should any find its way in, a few
handfuls of earth or stones heaped up round the border will effectually
keep it out. The stick of the umbrella is a hollow bamboo, open at the
top. It is pierced with holes to about half its length; this ventilates
the tent. A cap placed over the top of the stick excludes light, but not
air. We now have a complete tent in which a man can move about freely,
and use his hands without constraint, and, above all, he is not half
stifled, as one generally is in the usual run of developing tents. It
can be taken down at a moment’s notice, and packed in a very small
compass, the whole being exceedingly light and compact. A few stays may
be necessary in windy weather to keep it steady. The person about to
develop a plate slings over his shoulders, knapsack fashion, a small
metal tank, containing sufficient water to wash several plates; attached
to it is a gutta-percha tube and tap. Round the waist is buckled a broad
leather belt, in which are fixed bottles containing the developing
solutions, etc. A light fold-up trough, with a gutta-percha drain-pipe,
carried outside the tent, and two light shelves, hook on to the stick of
the umbrella. All that now has to be done is to lift up the walls of the
tent, step inside, and develop and print the picture, which by using
bromide-paper (undoubtedly _the_ process for military use), would take
something like a quarter of an hour, the printing, of course, to be done
from the wet plate. I may mention that I use scarcely any glass beyond
the plates (which I believe in); those articles which are made of glass
are protected to prevent breakage. I believe myself that the whole of
the articles now made of glass can be manufactured from a preparation of
celluloid, which is strong, light, and durable. I hope shortly to have a
complete set of bottles, measures etc., made of celluloid.”

                  *       *       *       *       *

M. STRAVOS ZELLIS, of Alexandria in Egypt, recommends the following
process for marking or lettering on the sensitized paper such names as
we wish to give the prints. He takes a piece of thin white paper and
traces upon it the words which he wishes to have at the bottom of his
negative, and oils it on both sides; having removed the excess of oil by
rubbing it between two sheets of bibulous paper, he coats it with
varnish on both sides and allows it to dry. On the other hand, he
removes from the bottom of the negative a portion of the gelatine, equal
to the size of the paper, and substitutes for it the paper, which he
sticks by means of a solution of gum arabic and water. He removes then
the air bubbles, which would prevent complete adherence, and this being
done, waits for his work to dry. If, when printing on the sensitized
paper, it is found that the letters do not show very white, the
defective portions should be retouched on the back of the oiled paper.
To write his name Mr. Zellis makes use of a mixture of gum arabic,
lampblack, and water. This process is simple, cheap, and gives excellent
results.--_Annals Photographique._

                  *       *       *       *       *

At the meeting of the Photographic Society of Berlin, President Stolze
exhibited the sketch of the Daguerre monument to be erected in
Washington city, at the cost of six thousand dollars.

Dr. Julius Stinde declared never to have seen anything more disgusting
(schauerlicheres) than this unhappy head of Daguerre, crushed under the
weight of a large ball, and attributes the depravity of our taste to the
high duty on articles of fine arts. He says that such monstrosities show
that we Americans are yet in point of art barbarians of the purest
water. Mr. E. Himly, as well as Dr. Stolze, takes our part, and shows
that the American photographic journals have unanimously condemned and
ridiculed Mr. H. McMichel’s scheme, and exonerate us as a body.
Bravo!--_Photographische Nachrichten._



                               DAGUERRE.


On the twelfth of August, in front of the Smithsonian Institute, in
Washington, dedicated to manifold arts and sciences, will be erected a
lasting memorial to Daguerre, the author that we all know fixed the
visible image on a given surface, which is photography, with all its
varieties and names, and they are numerous.

Why should we Americans put up such a memorial? The inscription on the
granite below the bronze portrait tells the story:

[Illustration]

“To commemorate the first half century in photography, 1839–1889.
Photography, the electric telegraph, and the steam engine are the three
great discoveries of the age. No five centuries in human progress can
show such strides as these. Erected by THE PHOTOGRAPHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF
AMERICA, August, 1890.”

The monument, now almost complete, its bronze features being of a high
order of art, will stand sixteen feet high, and will be the only
international monument in the city of Washington, where Smithson himself
dedicated his fortune for the advancement of science in the western
world.

In connection with this celebration we present to our readers a portrait
of Daguerre. Strange to say, there are but few authentic portraits of
Daguerre in existence. In our search for such a portrait we discovered
the one here reproduced; it was engraved by Orr from a photograph by Dr.
Meade, of New York, for the International Magazine, of that city, and
used to illustrate the obituary of the eminent Frenchman, September 1,
1851. As everything relating to Daguerre cannot but prove of interest at
the present time, we republish the interesting article in full as it
appeared at the time:

Lewis Jacques Mande Daguerre, whose name is forever associated with the
photographic process, of which he was the discoverer, died on the tenth
of July, in Paris, in the sixty-second year of his age. He was a man of
extreme modesty and great personal worth, and was devoted to art.

He was favorably known to the world before the announcement of his
discovery of the Daguerreotype. His attempts to improve panoramic
painting, and the production of dioramic effects, were crowned with the
most eminent success. Among his pictures, which attracted much attention
at the time of their exhibition, were, “The Midnight Mass,” “Land-slip
in the Valley of Goldan,” “The Temple of Solomon,” and “The Cathedral of
Sainte Marie de Montreal.”

In these the alternate effects of night and day, and storm and sunshine,
were beautifully produced. To these effects of light were added others,
from the decomposition of form, by means of which, for example in “The
Midnight Mass,” figures appeared where the spectators had just beheld
seats, altars, etc.; and again, as in “The Valley of Goldan,” in which
rocks tumbling from the mountains replaced the prospect of a smiling
valley.

The methods adopted in these pictures were published at the same time
with the process of Daguerreotype, by order of the French Government,
who awarded an annual pension of ten thousand francs to Daguerre and M.
Niepce, Jr., whose father had contributed towards the discovery of the
Daguerreotype. Daguerre was led to experiments on chemical changes by
solar radiations, with the hope of being able to apply the phenomena to
the production of effects in his dioramic paintings. As the question of
the part taken by him in the process to which he has given his name has
been discussed sometimes to his advantage, it appears important that his
position should be correctly determined. In 1802, Wedgwood, of Eturia,
the celebrated potter, made the first recorded experiments in
photography; and these, with some additional ones by Sir Humphrey Davy,
were published in the journals of the royal institution. In 1814, Mr.
Joseph Nicephore Niepce was engaged in experiments to determine the
possibility of fixing the images obtained in the camera obscura; but
there does not appear any evidence of publication of any kind previously
in 1827, when Niepce was in England. He there wrote several letters to
Mr. Bauer, the microscopic observer, which are preserved and printed in
Hunt’s “Researches on Light.”

He also sent specimens of results obtained to the Royal Society, and
furnished some to the cabinets of the curious, a few of which are yet in
existence. These were pictures on metallic plates covered with film of
resin.

In 1824 Daguerre commenced his researches, starting at that point at
which Wedgwood left the process. He soon abandoned the employment of the
nitrate and chloride of silver, and proceeded with his inquiry, using
plates of metal and glass to receive his sensitive coating. In 1829 Mr.
Vincent Chevalier brought Niepce and Daguerre together, when they
entered into partnership to prosecute the subject in common. For a long
time they appear to have used the resinous surface only, when the
contrast between the resin and the metal plates not being sufficiently
great to give a good picture, endeavors were made to blacken that part
of the plate from which the resin was removed in the process of
heliography (sun drawing), as it was most happily called. Amongst other
materials, iodine was employed; and Daguerre certainly was the first to
notice the property possessed by the iodine coating of changing under
the influence of the sun’s rays. The following letter from Niepce to
Daguerre is on this subject:

                                “81, LOUP DE VARVENNES, June 23, 1831.

  “Sir and Dear Partner:--I had long expected to hear from you with
  too much impatience not to receive and read with the greatest
  pleasure your letters of the tenth and twenty-first of last May.

  “I shall confine myself in this reply to yours of the twenty-first,
  because, having been engaged ever since it reached me in your
  experiments on iodine, I hasten to communicate to you the results
  which I have obtained. I had given my attention to similar
  researches previous to our connection, but without hope of success,
  from the impossibility, or nearly so, in my opinion, of fixing in
  any durable manner the image received on iodine, even supposing the
  difficulty surmounted of replacing the lights and shadows in their
  natural order. My results in this respect have been entirely similar
  to those which the oxide of silver gave me; and promptitude of
  operation was the sole advantage which these substances appeared to
  offer. Nevertheless, last year, after you left this, I subjected
  iodine to new trials, but by a different mode of application. I
  informed you of the results, and your answer, not at all
  encouraging, decided me to carry these experiments no farther. It
  appears that you have since viewed the question under a less
  desperate aspect, and I do not hesitate to reply to the appeal which
  you have made.

                                                       “J. N. NIEPCE.”

From this and other letters it is evident that Niepce had used iodine,
and abandoned it on account of the difficulty of reversing the lights
and shadows. Daguerre employed it also, as it appears, with far more
promise of success than any obtained by M. Niepce. On the fifth of July,
1833, Niepce died; in 1837 Daguerre and Isodore Niepce, the son and heir
of Nicephore Neipce, entered into a definite agreement, and in a letter
written on the first of November, 1837, to Daguerre, Isodore Niepce
says, “What a difference, also, between the method which you employ and
the one by which I toil on! While I require almost a whole day to make
one design, you ask only four minutes! What an enormous advantage! It is
so great, indeed, that no person knowing both methods would employ the
old one.” From this time it is established that although both Niepce and
Daguerre used iodine, the latter alone employed it with any degree of
success, and the discovery of the use of mercurial vapor to produce the
positive image clearly belongs to Daguerre. In January, 1839,
Daguerreotype pictures were first shown to the scientific and artistic
public of Paris.

The sensation they created was great, and the highest hopes of its
utility were entertained. On the 15th of June M. Duchatel, Minister of
the Interior, presented a bill to the Chamber of Deputies relative to
the purchase of the process of M. Daguerre for fixing the images of the
camera. A commission appointed by the Chamber, consisting of Arago,
Etienne, Carl, Vatout, de Beaumont, Toursover, Delessert (Francois),
Combarel de Leyral, and Vitet, made their report in July, and a special
commission was appointed by the Chamber of Peers, composed of the
following peers: Barons Athalin Besson, Gay Lussac, the Marquis de
Laplace, Vicomte Simeon, Baron Thenard, and the Comte de Noe, who
reported favorably on the 30th of July, 1839, and recommended
unanimously that the “bill be adopted simply, and without alteration.”
On the 19th of August the secret was for the first time publicly
announced in the institution by M. Arago, the English patent having been
completed a few days before, in open defiance and contradiction of the
statement of M. Duchatel to the Chamber of Deputies, who used these
words:

“Unfortunately for the authors of this beautiful discovery, it is
impossible for them to bring their labor into the market, and thus
indemnify themselves for the sacrifices incurred by so many attempts so
long fruitless. This invention does not admit of being secured by
patent.”

In conclusion, the Minister of the Interior said: “You will concur in a
sentiment which has already awakened universal sympathy. You will never
suffer us to leave to foreign nations the glory of endowing the world of
science and of art with one of the most wonderful discoveries that honor
our native land.” Daguerre never did much towards the improvement of his
process. The high degree of sensibility which has been attained has been
due to the experiments of others.

Daguerre is said to have been always averse to sitting for his own
picture, and there are but few photographs of him in existence. The one
from which our engraving is copied was taken by Mr. Meade of this city,
and first appeared in the _Daguerrean Journal_, a monthly periodical
conducted by S. D. Humphrey and L. L. Hill, who were distinguished for
their improvements upon Daguerre’s process.



                            GELATINOGRAPHY.


A very rapid process to make newspaper illustrations, called
gelatinography, is described in the following:

A black glass plate or a tin plate coated with black varnish, as used by
sign-painters, is covered with plaster of Paris (gypsum) to a thickness
of four-ply cardboard. The plaster of Paris must be of the best quality
and reduced to a very fine powder. Add thereto some alum and some
sulphate of barium, and in order to prevent the coating from being too
brittle, add also a trifle of glycerine or of a gelatine solution.

This mixture must have the consistency of a thin pulp when applied to
the glass or tin with a soft camel’s-hair brush.

When dry, the artist may engrave into this coat of plaster of Paris, by
means of a lithographic engraving needle, any design or picture with the
greatest ease; the plate or glass is thereby laid bare, and design or
picture appears black through the plaster of Paris coating. Mistakes or
errors are easily remedied by filling in the plaster of Paris
preparation.

With the regular printers’ roller composition a stereotype is now made
of the picture or design on the glass or plate, in the usual way; some
bichromate of ammonia solution should be added to the roller
composition, to make the stereotype hard enough for the type press, and
it will be as durable as any electrotype, and answer the same
purpose.--_Am. Lith. and Printer._

                  *       *       *       *       *

STEREOSCOPIC PHOTOGRAPHY.--Of late, there is quite a revival in this
branch of our art-science, several English and many foreign amateurs
having been working with twin lenses during the last and present
seasons. The Belgian _Bulletin_ has an article on the subject, and the
last technical meeting of the Photographic Society was devoted to it.
Although Wheatstone announced the instrument in 1838, it was not until
photography had come to his aid by furnishing satisfactory diagrams, and
Brewster had popularized the matter by the invention of the lenticular
stereoscope, that much progress was made; then Wheatstone gave his
Bakerian lecture on January 15th, 1852, to put the finishing touch to
this important branch of scientific work. The earlier attempts failed by
reason of employing too wide an angle.



                          ECLIPSE PHOTOGRAPHY.


Probably in no department of science, certainly in no branch of
astronomical science, has photography been of such use as in the study
of solar eclipses. It is only when the sun is obscured by the moon that
we are able to see and properly photograph the corona or luminous
atmosphere around the sun. This solar corona, as has been said by Young,
“is visible only about eight days in the century in the aggregate, and
then only over narrow strips of the earth’s surface, and but from one to
five minutes at a time by any one observer.” Very little of the eight
days, however, can be utilized; indeed, as has been pointed out by Miss
Clerke in her admirable _History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth
Century_, the corona has only been observed by scientific men during
forty-five minutes in as many years. Opportunities of observing an
eclipse occur therefore at such comparatively long intervals, the
phenomena to be observed are so varied and extensive, and the time
during which the observations must be made is so very limited, that any
permanent records of the phenomena, such as photography enables us to
obtain, cannot fail to be of the greatest value. The most careful
drawings of the same eclipse by different observers at the same station
are so very dissimilar that it is generally unsafe to base any
conclusion on them; whereas in photographs we have truthful records of
the actual phenomena without personal equation of any kind, and with the
additional advantage that there is more detail in the photograph than it
is possible to insert in any drawing made during an eclipse, or even at
leisure after the three or four minutes’ observation of such an
indefinite and irregular object as the corona. The history of the
increase of our knowledge of the corona is practically the history of
the improvement of our photographic methods of attacking the phenomena
of an eclipse.

The first occasion on which photography was used at an eclipse of the
sun was on July 8, 1842, when Professor Majocchi, at Milan, attempted to
obtain Daguerreotype pictures of the corona. His account of the attempt
informs us that “a few minutes before and after totality an iodised
plate was exposed in a camera to the light of the thin crescent, and a
distinct image was obtained; but another plate exposed to the light of
the corona for two minutes during totality did not show the slightest
trace of photographic action. No photographic alteration was caused by
the light of the corona condensed by a lens for two minutes, during
totality, on a sheet of paper prepared with bromide of silver.” No
details are given of the apertures of the lenses employed, or of their
focal lengths. At the outset, therefore, astronomers were met with
failure, but the failure at Milan did not deter Dr. A. H. Busch and Herr
Berkowski from a similar attempt at Konigsberg on July 28, 1851. The
telescope used on this occasion had an aperture of 2.4 inches, and a
focal length of 30 inches. Commencing immediately after the beginning of
totality, a plate was exposed for 84 seconds in the focus of the
telescope, and on development an image of the corona was obtained. A
second plate exposed for from 40 to 45 seconds was fogged by the sudden
breaking out of the sunlight. The picture thus obtained--the first
photograph of the corona and prominences--is known as the Konigsberg
Daguerreotype, and is still preserved at the Strasburg Observatory. It
was lent by Professor Winnecke for the exhibition of scientific
instruments at South Kensington in 1876. On it the prominences, and the
lower portion of the corona extending about one-fourth of a solar
diameter from the moon’s limb, are distinctly shown, the encroaching of
the prominences on the dark disc of the moon, owing to irradiation,
being particularly evident.

Daguerreotype was again used for the annual eclipse of May 26, 1854, by
Mr. Campbell and Professor Loomis at New York; by Dr. Bartlett and
Victor Prevost, who obtained nineteen photographs, at West Point; and by
Professor Stephen Alexander and Mr. E. H. Old at Ogdensburg.

Liais in 1858 obtained photographs of the partial phases, using wet
plates. On one of these the moon can be seen projected on the corona
before totality. With the introduction of the collodion process more
sensitive plates were obtained, and a great advance was anticipated. At
the total eclipse of 1860, July 18, Mr. Warren de la Rue, at
Rivabellosa, in Spain, used wet plates. His instrument was one specially
devised by himself for photographing the sun’s disc for sun-spots, and
is known as the Kew heliograph. It is an ordinary equatorial mounting
with driving clock, carrying a photographic object-glass, 3.4 inches
clear aperture, and 50 inches focal length. The primary image is .466 of
an inch in diameter, but before the image falls on the plate it is
enlarged by an ordinary Huyghenian eyepiece to 3.8 inches diameter. The
exposing apparatus for the ordinary sun photographs is an instantaneous
shutter; this, of course, had to be abandoned for the eclipse
photographs. Two plates were exposed during totality, the exposure being
60 seconds in each case, but only slight traces of the corona were
obtained. At the same eclipse Father Secchi and Professor Monserat,
working at Desierto de las Palmas, obtained good photographs of the
corona, using an object-glass of .15 metre diameter, and 2.5 metres
focus, the primary image being 23 millimetres in diameter. The plates
were placed in the primary focus and according to Secchi, “all the
phases of the phenomena are represented on the photographs.” The
original negatives obtained at Desierto de las Palmas of this eclipse
have unfortunately been lost.

The next attempt at photographing the corona was on August 18, 1868,
this being remarkable as the first attempt to use a reflector for the
purpose. Colonel Tennant and Sergeant Phillips at Guntoor used a 9–inch
silver-on-glass mirror, by With, of 6 feet focal length, mounted
equatorially by Browning on the Newtonian plan.

Unfortunately the weather was unfavorable, but plates were exposed
through light clouds, the longest exposure being 10 seconds. The
photographs obtained show the prominences sharply defined, but only
slight traces of corona are visible. Mr. Sutton, at Mautawali Kiki, and
Drs. G. Fritsch, H. Vogel, and W. Zener, at Aden, were, from atmospheric
and other causes, unsuccessful with refractors.

At the eclipse of August 7, 1869, many attempts were made to photograph
the corona. In all cases where the image was enlarged before it fell on
the plate, slight traces of the corona were obtained; while Professor
Winlock and Mr. J. A. Whipple, at Shelbyville, with a 5½-inch lens of 7½
feet focal length, obtained seven pictures taken in the primary focus,
one with 40 seconds’ exposure, showing more detail than had previously
been photographed.

At this eclipse, Messrs. Hoover photographed the corona with a lens of
12 inches focus, and Professor Stephen Alexander also obtained
photographs at Ottumwa some of which give good ideas of the coronal
structure.

At the 1870 eclipse, December 22, a 4–inch Dallmeyer lens (rapid
rectilinear), stopped down to three inches aperture, and with a focal
length of thirty inches, was used by Mr. Brothers at Syracuse. Wet
plates were used, and the photographs were taken through light clouds,
the best of the pictures having had eight seconds’ exposure. Details in
the corona are very well shown in these photographs. In discussing his
results, Mr. Brothers says, “The photographs taken ... prove that the
light of the corona is very actinic, and that several photographs of
this beautiful phenomenon can be taken during the time of totality.” He
further adds, “That it is impossible to obtain satisfactory photographs
of the corona either with reflecting or refracting telescopes as
ordinarily used is, I think, now conclusively proved.”

Professor Winlock, at Jerez, during the same eclipse, obtained two good
photographs with ordinary telescopes; while Lord Lindsay, at Maria Louis
Observatory, with a 12–inch mirror of 6 feet focus, obtained plates so
much fogged as to be useless.

On December 21, 1871, splendid photographs were obtained at Baikul by
Mr. Davis (Lord Lindsay’s observer), and by Colonel Tennant, J. B.
Hennessey, Esq., and Captain Waterhouse, at Dodabetta. In each case
Dallmeyer 4–inch rapid rectilinear lenses of thirty-three inches focus
were used, the exposures varying from five to forty seconds. Herr
Dietsch, in Java, also obtained two good photographs with a “lens of
short focus,” with exposures of half and one-third second. Captain Hogg,
at Jaffna, also got fair results with cameras 16 inches and 23 inches
long. At the eclipse of April 6, 1875, Dr. Schuster, in Siam, obtained
good photographs, although small, with an ordinary camera.

The eclipse of 1878 marked another departure in photography. Dr. Draper
used wet plates, and got much detail in 165 seconds. Mr. Ranyard used
Mawson & Swan’s extra sensitive dry plates, with a 13–inch lens of 6
feet 2 inches focus, and obtained photographs extending 6′ (one-fifth of
a sun’s diameter) from the limb with exposures of one and three seconds.
Professor Harkness, the director of the American operations, arranged
two cameras, with 6–inch Dallmeyer lenses of 37.9–inch focus, and Mr. J.
A. Rogers and Mr. Clark with these, using specially prepared dry plates
made by Mr. Rogers, obtained two good series of photographs. In the
report on the eclipse operations published from the United States Naval
Observatory, Mr. J. A. Rogers not only discusses the value of
photographs as compared with drawings, but enters fully into all the
details of eclipse photography, concluding by strongly advocating the
adoption of dry plates. Mr. O. L. Peers during this eclipse obtained a
wet plate photograph showing greater extension of the corona than any of
the dry plate ones, but there seems some doubt about the apparatus he
used. He used either a 2⅛-inch or 3⅛-inch Voigtlander portrait lens, and
exposed either for twelve or for twenty-three seconds. Mr. Peers says he
used a 2⅛-inch lens, and twelve seconds’ exposure, while Voigtlander
declares he makes only 3⅛-inch lenses of the focus 1:8 Mr. Peers used,
and on examination of the photograph it is found that the trail of the
moon on the plate indicates an exposure of twenty-three seconds. After
the 1878 eclipse dry plates were universally adopted by eclipse
observers.

The photographic arrangements of the expedition to Sohag, in Egypt, for
the eclipse on May 17, 1882, were made by Captain Abney, the chief
objects of the expedition being to photograph the spectra of the corona
and prominences. Arrangements were also made by Captain Abney for corona
photographs with a 4–inch lens of sixty inches focus belonging to him.
The spectrum photographs taken show as many as thirty lines in the
prominences, while the photographs of the corona obtained by Dr.
Schuster with exposures of from three to thirty-two seconds show great
extension of the corona with the most exquisite detail. These plates are
also remarkable for the discovery of a comet in the photographs,
although the comet was not seen by observers. Captain Abney and Mr. J.
Norman Lockyer were responsible for the methods of photographic attack
adopted by the English observers, Messrs. Lawrence and Woods, at the
Caroline Islands, on May 6, 1883. The spectroscopic results and the
corona photographs taken with the 4–inch lens of Captain Abney,
previously used in 1882, were most successful. Janssen on this occasion
used two objectives, one 6–inch and one 8–inch diameter, and using long
exposures, photographed the corona extending two diameters from the sun,
this being much further than it could be traced with a telescope.

Photography was again used on September 8, 1885, at the total eclipse in
New Zealand.

At the eclipse of August, 1886, visible at Granada, Captain Darwin used
a chronograph as devised by Dr. Huggins, consisting of a mirror inclined
in a tube in such a manner as to enable photographs to be taken in the
primary focus without the intervention of a flat. Good results were
obtained. Dr. Schuster and Mr. Maunder used 4–inch lenses of 60–inch
focus, and obtained good results. Their spectrum photographs were also
successful. Professor Pickering, of Harvard, used a heliostat and a
photo-heliograph of 38 feet focus, supported horizontally, but no
results were obtained with this apparatus, although he was partially
successful with his other instruments.

Very few photographs were obtained of the eclipse of August 19, 1887, in
Russia, owing to the unfavorable weather. The English observers intended
to use similar instruments to those employed in 1886, but the weather
did not permit.

The eclipse of January 1, 1889, was very successfully photographed by
the American observers, the largest aperture used being thirteen inches.
On some of the plates used during this eclipse the standard intensity
scale recommended by Captain Abney several years ago was fixed, and for
the first time definite conclusions as to the brightness of the corona
were obtained.

The expedition sent out by the Royal Astronomical Society for the
eclipse of December 22, 1889, were each fitted with a 4–inch
photographic lens, belonging to Captain Abney, mounted on the usual
equatorial plan, and intended to continue the series so well begun by
Dr. Schuster in 1882, and also with a 20–inch mirror of 45 inches focus,
specially constructed and mounted for eclipse work, and designed to
photograph the outer portions of the corona too faint for ordinary
instruments. The plates for use with the 4–inch lenses were specially
prepared by Captain Abney, and on each of them he had placed a scale of
standard intensity squares for measuring the brightness of the corona.
Small squares on each of the plates were exposed to a standard light for
various times; these squares were then covered with a strip of black
paper, and the plates taken out to the Eclipse Station and exposed on
the corona. When the plates were developed the image of the corona and
the squares were, of course, developed to the same extent, the squares
thus serving as standards for absolutely measuring the photographic
intensity of the light of the corona. The density of the deposit in any
part of the picture of the corona can be compared with the density of
the most similar of the squares on the same plate by Captain Abney’s
photometer, and as this photometer depends upon the method of limiting
apertures, it gives absolute readings.

The African expedition was entirely unsuccessful, owing to clouds, but
the expedition to Salut Isles, under charge of the late Father Perry,
obtained successful photographs, which are at present under examination.
From them Captain Abney will be able to measure the absolute
photographic intensity of the light of the corona.

An American expedition was sent to Cayenne with instruments used on
January 1, 1889, and obtained successful photographs, while an American
expedition to Southwest Africa was unsuccessful, for the reason already
given. This expedition, under the direction of Professor David P. Todd,
was located at Cape Ledo, about half a mile from the English Eclipse
Station.

Several new departures in eclipse photography were introduced. Chief
amongst these was the remarkable apparatus by means of which no less
than twenty-three objectives and two mirrors were accurately pointed at
the sun and caused to follow it by one large clock. A large duplex polar
axis (the old English form as used for the 12.5 inch reflector at
Greenwich) was mounted on solidly constructed stone piers and very
carefully adjusted. This axis is constructed of 6–in. wrought-iron
tubing, the total weight being about 2000 lbs. In it the cameras were
fixed by set screws, the optic axis of the instruments being adjusted
parallel to each other, and at an angle equal to the south polar
distance of the sun at the time of totality. The carefully regulated and
very powerful clockwork attached to the instrument caused the polar axis
to rotate, and thus the whole battery of instruments followed the sun.
Each lens was fitted with a pneumatic shutter regulated to give the
required exposure in each case. The cameras themselves were enclosed in
a dark-room, the lenses only being exposed to the sun, so that dark
slides were not required, the plates being held on open rotating frames,
these frames being rotated at the proper time by pneumatic arrangements.
When the cameras were once pointed, and the clock driving properly, all
the operations of exposure and changing of plates were performed without
personal superintendence by means of the pneumatic apparatus, and a
chronograph attached to the valve system of this apparatus recorded the
exact time at which each exposure was begun and ended.

It is to be regretted that this ingenious and elaborate apparatus did
not have a satisfactory trial, owing to the dense clouds; but Professor
Todd assures us that he was thoroughly satisfied with the success of the
pneumatic movements during the three minutes ten seconds he brought it
into operation at the time of totality.

It is not improbable that (in spite of the great strength and weight of
the axis and the solidity of the supporting piers) with this plan of
fixing a large number of cameras and spectroscope on one polar axis, the
constant opening and shutting of shutters, and the changing of the
plates, may produce so much shake that none of the long exposure
photographs will be satisfactory. This, of course, can only be
ascertained by the use of the instrument on the corona, and several
years must elapse before the trial can be made.

Another unusual instrument was a photo-heliograph of five inches
aperture and forty feet focus, mounted on a combination of the
equatorial stand and tripod.

The long tube was made of iron, coiled spirally and strongly riveted,
the necessary rigidity being attained by strong wires extending from end
to end, and tightly stretched by a disc in the middle of the tube. Close
to one end of the tube the polar axis was attached by a universal joint;
the other end of the tube being supported by two rods, one on the east
and one on the west side, these rods being also attached by universal
joints. By means of these rods the proper inclination was given to the
tube. The east rod was the declination rod, and was capable of sliding
along the polar axis. The west rod was for giving motion in right
ascension, being terminated at the free end in the form of a piston of a
sand clock fixed in an inclined position. The rate at which the sand
escaped from the cylinder could be accurately regulated, so that the
rate of descent of the piston was completely under control, and was, of
course, such as would cause the instrument to follow the sun.

This instrument was erected at Cape Ledo, close to a hill of such
inclination that the sun could be followed during the whole of the
eclipse, while the long tube could be manipulated with greater advantage
than would have been possible if the instrument had been erected on
level ground. The hot air rising from the heated hill probably affected
the definition in the photographs, but under the circumstances that
could scarcely be avoided.

This form of mounting certainly solved the question of the possibility
of using long-focus lenses mounted as direct photo-heliographs, but the
apparatus is certainly unwieldly, and was only got into the fit state
that it was on the eclipse day by the very great care and patience of
Professor Bigelow. As it was intended principally to photograph the
partial phases of the eclipse with this instrument, instantaneous
exposures were arranged for, but Professor Bigelow succeeded so well in
the adjustment of the instrument and the regulation of the sand clock,
that he would have tried to obtain photographs of the lower corona with
it had the weather permitted.

The photographic apparatus on this instrument has a very ingeniously
constructed revolving plate holder, carrying round plates of twenty-two
inches diameter. The exposing apparatus and the apparatus for rotating
the plate between the exposures were moved by pneumatic arrangements,
exposures being made at intervals of six seconds, the exact time of each
being recorded on a chronograph. As no dark slides were used, it was
necessary to enclose the whole of the photographic apparatus in a
dark-room. One hundred and ten exposures were made with this telescope
during the partial phases of the eclipse, all the photographs taken
having to be obtained through clouds.

In several expeditions previous to this, where more than one kind of
observation has been required, two or more objectives have been mounted
on the same stand and driven by the same clock; but this plan is always
open to the objection that any accidental disturbance in the
manipulation of one of the pieces of apparatus will most probably spoil
the results for both. With the American plan of many objectives on one
heavy axis, and a pneumatic apparatus to manage all the actual
operations of exposures and changing of plates, this objection of
possible accidental disturbance is to some extent overcome; but the
shake of the many operations taking place on the one axis introduces
another risk. Beside this, the apparatus is very heavy, and exceedingly
difficult to transport and erect, even in a civilized country.

Such is a very summarized account of the instruments hitherto employed,
and it seems to me that the time has now come when much can be gained by
the employment of fixed instruments and a moving large plane mirror.
This idea of using a heliostat is, of course, not new, for it has been
used several times on a small scale, and for special purposes. There is
nothing beyond the difficulty of making a plane mirror sufficiently
large for the work to prevent the adoption of this method in the future;
and this difficulty now has ceased, as it is only a matter of time and
labor to make plane mirrors of sufficient size. With a large plane
mirror, twenty inches or upwards in size, mounted on a heliostat
mounting, and so arranged as to reflect sunlight into a series of
instruments rigidly supported in a horizontal position, the difficulties
of eclipse observers will be very considerably lessened. The one driving
clock will keep the pencil of light constantly in the same direction,
and this can be used partly for photographing the corona, partly for
spectroscopic work, partly for polariscopic observations, and so on for
any other purposes, the whole of the instruments being fixed in the best
possible positions for the observers. Practically, with a large flat
mounted in the manner indicated, we can fix any portion of the sky we
require to observe, and to do it we can point as many instruments as we
can crowd into the pencil, each instrument being quite independent of
the others. The length of focus of an objective would not introduce any
difficulties on this plan, for the length of the tube is of little
importance when it can be fixed in an horizontal position. The observers
at the Eclipse Station only have one astronomical adjustment to make,
_i.e._, that of the position of the heliostat, and only one driving
clock to regulate. This clock, since it has only to move the weight of
the plane mirror and its mounting, can be more accurately made and
regulated than is possible with a clock when it has to carry the weight
of the tube and heavy axis of an ordinary telescope. The positions of
the observers are more easy and natural during the precious seconds of
totality; or, if personal superintendence is to be abolished in favor of
the American pneumatic apparatus, this suggested arrangement of the
instrument is better fitted for the pneumatic attachments than the old
plan is. The whole of the photographic apparatus can be fixed up in a
dark hut or under a dark tent with far less trouble and risk of stray
light than is possible with the old manner of mounting.

The cost of a good heliostat mounting is about the same as that of a
good telescope, and with one heliostat we can do the work of at least
half a dozen of the usual instruments.

                           A. A. COMMON, F.R.S., and A. TAYLOR, A.R.S.M.

                  *       *       *       *       *

THE Supreme Court at St. Paul, Minnesota, handed down a decision on July
1st in the case of Ida Moore, of Minneapolis, against Photographer Rugg.
Rugg sold a copy of Mrs. Moore’s picture, which was put on exhibition in
improper places, much to the discredit of the lady, and she brought suit
for damages. The Supreme Court holds that it is a case in which there is
ground for the recovery of damages; that the photographer has no right
to dispose of pictures which are the sole property of the sitter. The
decision is an important one. Similar cases have arisen once or twice
previously in other parts of the country.



                             GENERAL NOTES.


A NOVEL CARBON PROCESS.--Mr. O. Volkner publishes the following dust
carbon printing process, which appears to be easy to carry out, requires
no reversed negatives, and yields permanent prints. We also think it can
be used in making phototypic printing blocks. Make a solution of
gelatine in water 1–60, and draw sheets of good strong paper through it,
and hang it up to dry. Wet it again and squeeze it down on a piece of
glass. Now brush over it a solution of ten parts gelatine, ten parts gum
arabic, twenty parts white sugar, eighty parts distilled water. While
still quite moist put it in a dusting box (such as used for
photogravure) which contains a mixture of 100 parts of white dry sugar
and five parts of French lamp black. After a lapse of eight to ten
minutes, withdraw it and you will find it covered with innumerable
particles of dust. Paper thus prepared will keep, and has to be
sensitized in a bath of fifty parts bichromate of potassium, fifty parts
bichromate of ammonia, six thousand parts water and aqua ammonia, until
it assumes a light yellow color, and at last, to avoid the too quick
dissolution of the gum arabic, immerse in twenty parts chromic acid in
1,500 alcohol. Print by Vogel’s photometer 16° to 18°. To develop, use
warm water first, and afterwards cold, leaving the print for several
hours in water, to which may be added a little aqua ammonia, in case the
printing was carried too far. The prints show a singular and very
pleasing grain and need no transferring.--_Dr. Eder’s Jahrbuch._

                  *       *       *       *       *

EVERY photographer is, no doubt, to his own sorrow, familiar with a
yellow stain in the negative, caused by taking the plate from the fixing
bath before it is thoroughly fixed. Mr. Belitski, the well-known
photo-chemist, made some experiments recently to remove this stain, and
succeeded very well. A slight stain can often be removed by placing the
negative in the following solution: 50 parts alum, 1000 parts water, 10
parts bichromate of potassium, 20 parts muriatic acid. After several
minutes the negative turns yellow all through. It is washed now very
thoroughly, exposed to sunlight for several minutes, and developed or
blackened with the ordinary iron developer. When the stain is very
intense this remedy will not prove to be of any avail, and only by
leaving it for twenty-four hours in the Lainer acid fixing bath (so
often described in all journals recently) he succeeded in removing the
stain and saving a valuable negative.--_Deutsche Photographen Zeitung._

                  *       *       *       *       *

THE article on “Fixing Plates” which appeared in our June number, page
163 should read in the heading “Fixing Prints.” Our readers have
doubtless discovered this for themselves before now.

------------------------------------------------------------------------



                          TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES


 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
 2. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as
      printed.
 3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.





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